Many Lifetimes
by Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay
Summary: Things are happening; things that need to be explained. Things that when they are explained will devastate all.
1. Chapter 1

Working around some writer's block and I have wanted to revisit this for a while.

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Luke Skywalker was tired. There was no way that he was going be getting out of bed anytime soon. It didn't help that it was _freezing_ outside.

He heard the door slide open and prayed to the Force that it was Wedge and not someone else.

"Luke, if you don't get out of bed we will be late for patrol." Wedge Antilles told him from the doorway.

Luke sighed and threw the covers back.

Within a minute Luke was dressed and headed out with Wedge.

"I can't wait until we can leave this ice ball." Luke grumbled.

"I hear you." Wedge said. "This is one of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy."

"When I find out who voted to come here I am going to introduce them to my lightsaber." Luke said as he shivered a bit.

"I bet it was Mon Mothma." Wedge said. "And you know how much you-know-who respects her."

Luke rolled his eyes as they made their way to the East Entrance. It was going to be another long day.

xxxxx

Han Solo felt like swearing at the nearest person in multiple languages. This planet was the worst one he had been on in _years_! Once he found out who had decided that they go to Hoth he would hunt them down and feed them to something!

He had places to be and beings to see. And he couldn't do them here.

xxxxx

Lieutenant Ryean Riggs didn't look away from the screen as he heard two beings walk passed. He did hear that they were talking how the search was taking longer than they thought it would; maybe a little too long.

Ryean thought that they might as well be chasing the fabled wind sprites of his home world. But the enemy was real. Finding them was the problem they were experiencing. Hopefully their enemy had fewer hiding spots then they thought and with all those probe droids searching as well the search should be much shorter.

A noise suddenly shattered the silence on the Bridge. It sounded like someone was choking. Ryean resisted the urge to look to see who it was; something told him that it was the Admiral.

Ryen didn't even blink when then sound of a neck being crushed sounded through the Bridge followed by the body hitting the deck.

This was the life of an officer in the Imperial Navy; especially of one that served with Death Squadron.

xxxxx

"Something isn't right; I hope that we get those sensors working soon." Wedge said to Luke as they rode their Tauntaun mounts next to each other.

"I do too Wedge, but until we do get the sensors in place and working we will be busting our butts." Luke replied.

"This is revenge for that accident that I was a part of last week." Wedge said with conviction. "How was I supposed to know that sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid would basically explode and create a mess?"

"Wedge, every Youngling that does science fair projects knows that sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid react like that." Luke informed his friend.

"Well if they want a real prank I will get ahold of several bottles Calo and Mathos and see how they like the mess that those cause." Wedge declared.

"Not if you want to be scrubbing down one of the supply ships." Luke told the upset young man.

Wedge looked at Luke in horror.

"You wouldn't!" he yelped.

"We have had enough trouble from Wes and Hobbie in some respects. I mean Leia is still fuming at what those two did last month." Luke said shortly.

Luke felt a warning in the Force. He quickly pulled on his Tauntaun's reins and searched the Force.

Luke quickly dismounted his Tauntaun and yanked Wedge off of his.

A few moments later something zoomed over their heads and hit the ground in a fiery explosion.

The Tauntauns bolted in terror.

"Metroid?" Wedge asked as the pair looked at the impact site.

Luke reached for his macrobinoculars and examined the area. What he saw appeared to be twisted metal of some type of craft.

"I don't know." Luke answered. "But it's too hot to investigate for now."

xxxxxx

Ryean was looking at the scans in an effort to make sense of what he was seeing. It was as if two images were over lapping.

"What happened here?" a voice he vaguely recognized demanded.

Ryean heard several audible gasps of horror and stood to see what was causing the ruckus.

What he saw shocked him beyond belief.

xxxxxx

Terrence Brook sighed as he watched the cranes move fighters and shuttles around the hangars.

He was looking forward to his shift ending so he could get back to writing that future best seller.

The noise of a fighter's engines had Terrence groaning. He had been so sure that the fighters wouldn't be due back for another half hour.

The door to the office opened admitting the next shift officer: Wyllys Lyns-Col.

Terrence quickly filled Wyllys in on what was going on before he left the office.

Terrence pondered on the best ways to introduce the main female lead and was having a hard time of coming up with a believable scenario.

As he walked to the turbolift Terrence noticed that an Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor was parked off to the side.

Terrence paused to stare at it. He could have sworn that a fighter like that didn't belong on the ship. But he guessed that he had to be some type of trophy that had been moved there with all the shuffling around that was happening.

A loud scrapping sound filled the air.

Terrence turned and froze at the sight of a fighter sliding across the hangar deck; heading for him.

Terrence watched in frozen horror as the fighter skidded closer.

The fighter suddenly stopped and a ground team raced towards the fighter; helping the terrified pilot out.

"That fighter isn't supposed to be there." The pilot gasped.

Terrence watched as Amara Jayden walked up to the fighter and opened the canopy. He watched as she rummaged around before turning away.

"No one touch this." She ordered as she headed for the bank of turbolifts.

xxxxxx

Rei Rollis sighed as she followed the medical droid that she was helping through the corridors of a medical facility. She had been randomly selected to work here for the next few standard months.

Rei didn't like the feeling of this area. It felt as if someone was in horrible pain; both physical and emotional.

Rei suddenly turned from the droid and walked up to the left wall and slid her hand across it. A door opened and paneling along the wall slid up to reveal a nightmarish operating theater.

Rei could smell burnt flesh and clothes making her gag.

Her eyes roamed the room and fell on some medical supply crates; the type for holding organic tissue.

"Oh dear," the medical droid said. "This room isn't on the blueprints."

Rei slowly opened the nearest crate and gasped at the sight of several bones that belonged to a humanoid; bones that had been removed surgically.

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for the interest in this and I hope that you will stay interested.

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Slowly and cautiously Luke and Wedge approached the downed object. As they got closer a few pieces of twisted metal became visible in the crater.

Finally Luke and Wedge were standing nearly on top of the mangled mess. Whatever the object had been it was too far gone to tell by just looking at it what it had been.

Luke sighed and retrieved his commlink.

"Skywalker to Ghost Base," Luke said into the device.

_"Ghost Base here,"_ A female's voice responded.

"Something just crashed not too far from the East Entrance. It was made out of metal."

_"Copy that, a team will be sent to your position to retrieve what is left._" The woman informed him.

"One more thing; Wedge and I lost our Tauntauns when it crashed." Luke said.

_"Understood, someone will come and get both of you. In the meantime stay together."_ She told them.

"Understood," Luke replied before cutting the connection.

"Luke," Wedge asked as they looked at the wreckage. "Was that a Probe Droid?"

Luke stared at the twisted metal. There was too much there to have been a Probe Droid; at least not one he was familiar with.

Luke reached out and felt the terror of two life forms.

"It was some kind of transport." Luke said as he looked at what was left. "There were two beings on board."

Luke felt bile climb in his throat at what those two had felt in their final moments.

A moment later Luke could Feel panic and terror from dozens of individuals as their Life Forces were extinguished.

He closed his eyes against the images that assaulted him. Two heartbeats later Luke heard Wedge gasp.

Luke opened his eyes and took several steps back when he was greeted at the sight of twisted wreckage everywhere. It was no longer an unblemished landscape but a battlefield.

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Han sighed as he walked casually up to his target and gently pulled her into a storage closet; planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

"You are a welcome distraction Captain Solo." She whispered after they broke the kiss.

"Well we are counting down the days until they call me elsewhere and I might not see you again for who knows how long." Han said before they kissed again.

Han had decided years ago that this was bliss; to hold the woman that he loved so much in his arms.

They had met on accident three years ago and had been seeing each other ever since. Her mother didn't care for him but her father warmed up to the idea that his little girl was seeing someone. It helped that Han and her father shared a passion for ships.

Han was planning on asking her to become his wife. They would get married and raise beautiful children that would inherit both their parents' love for speed. He just needed to get enough time alone with her father to broach the subject. He was sure to say yes.

"Is the door locked?" Han asked as they broke apart from another kiss.

"Of course it's locked. We wouldn't want Luke or anyone else seeing us." She replied.

"The Kid is going to learn about us sooner or later." Han reasoned.

As they kissed Han felt his love shuddered.

"What's wrong?" he asked her; concerned.

"A disturbance in the Force," she answered. "I felt the Death Screams of many beings."

Han quickly pulled her close in an effort to comfort her. She was highly empathic and the suffering of others upset her.

_"Jedi Leia Skywalker, report to the command center as soon as possible."_ A woman's voice said over the Base's internal PA system.

"Duty calls." Leia said mournfully as she opened the supply closet with the Force.

"I'll come with you." Han stated. He was expecting an argument but was pleasantly surprised when she nodded.

Han followed Leia to the command center.

"Yes?" Leia asked.

"Just a few minutes ago the area in front of the East Entrance went from a snowy plane to a bloody battlefield." General Rieekan informed her.

Han followed Leia over to the screens showing the East Entrance.

"Call the Fleet." Leia said flatly as she headed for a more private part of the command center.

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Amara hurried down the corridors of the command ship. She had to inform her Master of what she had discovered in the Hangar. He would be highly interested in it.

Amara hurried onto the Bridge and froze at the sight of a man in uniform lying on the deck with a hand on his throat; dead.

Amara turned to her Master in confusion.

"What happened?" she asked, her news momentarily forgotten.

"We don't know." Her Master said from where he knelt beside the body. "He isn't an officer on any of the ships in this group."

"Does he have an ID?" Amara asked as she approached the body.

"Not that I have found yet." Her Master replied.

Amara turned to the officers on the Bridge.

"Does anyone know anything?" she asked with authority, reaching out with the Force at the same time.

"We heard the sound of someone choking but something in the back of my mind said that it was normal." An officer, a lieutenant, answered and many others nodded in agreement.

Amara could feel the truth in the lieutenant's words. Something told him not to be bothered by the noise.

"His rank bars say that he's an admiral. But I don't remember seeing him anywhere before." Her Master said as he stood.

"Take him to Medical and see what they can find." He ordered two droids that were in the corner.

"Sir," a communications officer called out. "We are receiving a transmission from Ghost Base."

"Put it through." Her Master ordered as he headed for a more private part of the Bridge; Amara followed after him.

A moment later a hologram of Leia Skywalker sprang to into existence.

_"Father we experienced an Event. We have bodies and debris of transports. Scans of space reveal fragments of some ships as well."_ Leia reported.

"We might have experienced an Event as well." Her Master said. "We have the dead body of an officer but he wasn't part of this fleet."

"Master, you remember that Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor that you really loved but it was lost three years back?" Amara said as she remembered what had brought her to the Bridge in the first place. "It's in the Hangar Level Five."

There was silence for a few moments.

"Admiral Rosc set course for the Hoth System and ready the collection transports. All eyes need to be on the scanners for potential a-" Anakin Skywalker started to say before he collapsed on the ground.

"Master!" Amara cried roughly at the same time as Leia cried out.

Amara dropped to her Master's side as he gasped in pain for a few moments. Several of the Bridge's personal started to come over to help but Amara waved them off.

A moment later Anakin Skywalker's face smoothed out and he stood rather shakily on his feet.

"I am fine." He told everyone.

"We should be at Hoth in less than three hours." Anakin told Leia. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you as well Father." Leia added before she ended the transmission.

Amara felt a little uneasy. Her Master was rarely ill and he certainly had never collapsed like that before. It had been as if someone had suddenly cut off his legs.

"Let's go look at that Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor." Her Master suddenly said as he turned from the place where just moments ago his daughter's hologram had been.

Amara made a mental note to keep a close eye on her Master just in case he collapsed again. She would never forgive herself if she allowed something bad to happen to her Master.

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	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone!

Good new! My mom has let me spend a little more time on the computer this evening so I could bring this to you.

I know that some of you were hoping for maybe 'The Chosen One' or one of my other fics but I am brainstorming the next few moves for 'The Chosen One' 'Who am I?' and need to make a move on 'Scavenger Hunt'. I want 'Scavenger Hunt' to have a good showdown but I guess I shouldn't let that bother me and get to work.

I do suffer from anxiety and depression and I take medication for them and that is being changed which is one reason why this has taken so long.

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Anakin Skywalker circled the Eta-2 Actis-Class Light Interceptor, looking for anything that would give him even a vague idea where it could have come from.

He knew for sure that the Eta-2 hadn't been on the _Defender_ when they had left Coruscant and he was the only Jedi on the ship that liked how they handled.

Using the Force Anakin lifted the canopy of the fighter and peered into the cockpit. The air smelled stale, as if the canopy hadn't been opened in years.

The controls and a few other things were set up in a way that he would have liked but he had never flown a fighter without first painting it yellow; unless he was borrowing it temporarily from another Jedi.

"Any ideas how it go here Master?" Amara asked him with curiosity.

Anakin allowed his eyes to linger a little longer on the controls; listening to the Force.

"It wasn't here when we left Coruscant and the cockpit hasn't been opened in years." Anakin told her.

Amara leaned in and accessed the navicomputer. "According to this it's last known destination was Mustafar. Whether or not it arrived is unknown." She told him.

Anakin knelt and ran his hands on the underside of the fighter; looking for any traces of ash that could have come from the volcanic world. He could feel something and lifted his hands and saw the telltale smudges of ash on his left hand and on the glove that covered his cybernetic right hand.

"It arrived there alright but how did it get here?" Anakin asked as he stood.

"The logs say that the pilot had left from Coruscant with an astromech but there isn't one in the socket. The navicomputer shows no signs of being accessed any time after plotting the Mustafar Jump." Amara reported as she continued to search the navicomputer.

Anakin peered into the astromech socket and noted that it was open. There had been an astromech in it at one point but wasn't there anymore. Quickly running a hand along the inside of the socket revealed some ash.

"If the pilot hadn't brought an astromech the socket would have been closed but since it is open and has some ash in it I would say that there was one." Anakin stated.

Anakin looked up and spotted a lieutenant standing not too far away.

"Lieutenant," Anakin called out.

"Yes sir?" the lieutenant asked as he hurried over.

"I need you to have an inventory done on all astromechs on the _Defender_. I need to know which types and if any are missing or we have any extras." Anakin informed the man.

"Right away sir," the lieutenant said as he hurried off.

Anakin looked over the craft one last time. He had a feeling that he had flown it before but he couldn't remember ever going to Mustafar in a fighter. In ships yes but never something for one person.

Anakin leaned against the fighter and let his mind drift; allowing the Force to guide his thoughts.

Nothing really came to him except the feeling that he had flown the fighter to Mustafar.

xxxxxx

The relief that was felt through Ghost Base was palpable when Anakin Skywalker's group arrived. Nerves were on edge from the sudden influx of debris from an Event.

Leia had been hoping that it would be labeled the work of pirates like so many others but the moment they found that enormous transport more or less still intact with bodies of soldiers that all changed.

At the moment Leia was standing next to her father's apprentice Amara Jayden watching as some heavy lifting droids moved the damaged transport towards the waiting drop shuttle.

Leia liked Amara well enough it just felt some days that Amara was closer to her father then she was. It was a lie of course since Leia had had her father steps behind her her whole life while Amara had only been part of his life for a few years when she became his Padawan.

It was just lately Leia wasn't feeling as close to her father as she had.

The Jedi Council wouldn't be pleased seeing that they still were still getting used to the idea that feeling emotions like other living beings wasn't going to lead you to the Dark Side without fail.

"Reminds me of AT-TEs but not." Amara commented.

Leia nodded in agreement.

"I also think that it was something to fear on the field of battle." Leia added. "Something that when you saw it that you either ran in fear or surrendered to the enemy."

"I would face them head on." Amara said flatly. "They would have to have weaknesses being as tall as they are. Use an ascension cables to the main body use a lightsaber to cut a hole and then throw in a charge of some type and then let go."

Leia looked at Amara in shock, amusement and awe.

"Remind me never to be your enemy in battle." Leia told the younger woman.

Amara just smiled under the cold weather gear; through the Force her amusement rolled off of her in waves.

At that moment Anakin Skywalker joined them as the droids finished loading the massive thing in the transport.

"Any thoughts on it girls?" he asked.

"I wouldn't want to face it in battle." Leia answered truthfully.

"I would rather not face it in battle but if I must then I can see ways to destroy it." Amara answered.

"Someone used an ascension cables to get to the main body, they then used a lightsaber to make a hole and then by the looks of it through in a charge." Anakin told them as the transport took off; heading back for the _Defender_.

"Best way to destroy it too since the armor appears to be extra heavy so blasters wouldn't do any damage to it." He added.

"We have to find out what it going on." Leia stated to no one particular.

Xxxxxx

Han wasn't sure whether the fact that he was heading back to Coruscant was a good thing or a bad thing.

Yes it would give him more time to spend showing Lady Skywalker that he was worthy of her daughter since Master Anakin Skywalker needed little convincing.

He was hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was more answers to their questions among the wreckage they found on Hoth today.

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See you at the next update! :)


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